Men’s Track and Field Caps Successful Season at Nationals

May 28, 2011

DELAWARE, Ohio – As a culmination of another successful season that saw the program capture its 11th straight conference title and finish second in New England, the MIT men's track and field team sent three individuals to the NCAA Division III Championship this past weekend. Tech had entries in the 3000-meter Steeplechase, javelin and hammer throw. All three athletes competed well in their respective events but were unable to score any points in the team standings.

Kenneth Cooper led things off for the Cardinal and Gray, competing in the hammer throw on Thursday afternoon. Mother nature was not cooperative however, as a lightning delay postponed the meet in the middle of Cooper's flight. After returning to action, Cooper fouled on two of his attempts and his third was not enough to qualify for the final. He finished in 17th place with a throw of 176-00 feet.

Paul Welle was next up, running in the Steeplechase on Friday evening. Welle, who came into the meet as the 16th seed in the event, was able to improve his standing significantly, moving up to 10th place with a time of 9:17.38, missing out on All-America honors by just under 11 seconds.

MIT's final event of the weekend was the javelin, in which Vladimir Sobes was entered. At the Championship banquet on Thursday night, Sobes was presented with the NCAA Elite 88 Award, which honors the student-athlete at the Championship with the highest overall grade point average. Sobes was an All-American in the javelin at the 2010 Championship but came up short of replicating the feat this year. After fouls on two of his attempts, Sobes finally came up with a 192-08 foot effort, good enough for 11th place.

North Central College took home this year's team title, outscoring second-place Wisconsin-La Crosse by just two points.